Apparatus, system, and method of providing a solids level monitor

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, system and method for providing a consumable level monitor for association with a solid content-filled consumable. The embodiments may include a sensing module embedded in a label associated with the consumable suitable to sense the consumable level; and a visual indicator suitable to receive the consumable level from the sensing module, and for communicating the consumable level to a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a national stage application of International PatentApplication No. PCT/US2019/030658, filed May 3, 2019, entitled:APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A SOLIDS LEVEL MONITOR, whichclaims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/666,605, filed May 3, 2018, entitled APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OFPROVIDING A SOLIDS LEVEL MONITOR, the entirety of which is incorporatedherein by reference as if set forth in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates generally to sensing, and, more particularly, toan apparatus, system, and method of monitoring solids levels in acontainer and indicating a need for replenishment.

Background of the Disclosure

It is well understood that various types of solids may be carried withincontainers, and may be dispensed over extended time periods in discreetquantities from such containers, such as in servings or doses. Ingeneral, the solids placed ultimately placed within the container may betracked, in bulk, prior to delivery to or purchase by the ultimateconsumer. For example, bulk tracking may be performed on farmed goods asthey are farmed, and as they are shipped for distribution; warehousedsolids may be tracked by production date, such as by UPC code or thelike, and/or such as by warehoused pallet, and so on; once the goodsreach a sales center, such as a grocery store, they may be tracked, suchas by UPC code or the like, from an inventory perspective; but, once thesolids reach the consumer and are placed into a container, such as forconsumption, or consumed from a purchased container, there are no longerreadily available tracking methodologies at present.

Thus, in embodiments such as the aforementioned, it is often the casethat the only way for a user/consumer to monitor how much remains in thecontainer is to periodically shake, lift, or otherwise manipulate thecontainer to allow for a qualified guess by the user as to how muchremains therein. Further, there is historically no methodology wherebyproper dosing for use of the solid in a container may be readilyassessed. Yet further, there is presently no mechanism whereby a sellerof a solid can assess a consumer's need for additional solids.

Therefore, the need exists for an apparatus, system, and method ofmonitoring solid levels within a container, of dosing a solid within acontainer, and of automatically indicating (herein referred to as“autoreplenishment”), such as to at least one of a consumer and aseller, when the need for additional solid and/or a container thereofoccurs.

SUMMARY

The embodiments are and include at least an apparatus, system and methodfor providing a consumable level monitor for association with a solidcontent-filled consumable. The embodiments may include a sensing moduleembedded in a label associated with the consumable suitable to sense theconsumable level; and a visual indicator suitable to receive theconsumable level from the sensing module, and for communicating theconsumable level to a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similarelements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary container that includes a solids sensingsystem;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary dispensing base and solids container ina solids sensing system;

FIG. 3 illustrates aspects of the embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates aspects of the embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates aspects of the embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates aspects of the embodiments; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary cloud-based solids sensing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The figures and descriptions provided herein may have been simplified toillustrate aspects that are relevant for a clear understanding of theherein described devices, systems, and methods, while eliminating, forthe purpose of clarity, other aspects that may be found in typicalsimilar devices, systems, and methods. Those of ordinary skill mayrecognize that other elements and/or operations may be desirable and/ornecessary to implement the devices, systems, and methods describedherein. But because such elements and operations are well known in theart, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of thepresent disclosure, a discussion of such elements and operations may notbe provided herein. However, the present disclosure is deemed toinherently include all such elements, variations, and modifications tothe described aspects that would be known to those of ordinary skill inthe art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and“having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described hereinare not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance inthe particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specificallyidentified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood thatadditional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”,“connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may bedirectly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element orlayer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast,when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engagedto”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element orlayer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Otherwords used to describe the relationship between elements should beinterpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directlybetween,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein,the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more ofthe associated listed items.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein todescribe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections,these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should notbe limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguishone element, component, region, layer or section from another element,component, region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,”and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence ororder unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element,component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed asecond element, component, region, layer or section without departingfrom the teachings of the exemplary embodiments.

Processor-implemented modules, systems and methods of use are disclosedherein that may provide networked access to a plurality of types ofdigital content, including but not limited to video, image, text, audio,metadata, algorithms, interactive and document content, and which track,deliver, manipulate, transform and report the accessed content.Described embodiments of these modules, systems and methods are intendedto be exemplary and not limiting. As such, it is contemplated that theherein described systems and methods may be adapted and may be extendedto provide enhancements and/or additions to the exemplary modules,systems and methods described. The disclosure is thus intended toinclude all such extensions.

Furthermore, it will be understood that the term “module” as used hereindoes not limit the functionality to particular physical modules, but mayinclude any number of tangibly-embodied software and/or hardwarecomponents having a transformative effect on at least a portion of asystem. In general, a computer program product in accordance with oneembodiment comprises a tangible computer usable medium (e.g., standardRAM, an optical disc, a USB drive, or the like) having computer-readableprogram code embodied therein, wherein the computer-readable programcode is adapted to be executed by a processor (which may work inconnection with an operating system) to implement one or more functionsand methods as described below. In this regard, the program code may beimplemented in any desired language, and may be implemented as machinecode, assembly code, byte code, interpretable source code or the like(e.g., via C, C++, C#, Java, Actionscript, Objective-C, Javascript, CSS,XML, etc.).

Embodiments may include a solids level monitoring apparatus, system, andmethod, as well as an auto replenishment apparatus, system, and methodfor solids typically within a container, for which monitoring of thelevel of those solids has not historically occurred. The embodiments mayinclude a stand-alone base that is distinct from the one or morecontainers, and which may include one or more printed circuit boards,firmware, network communication capabilities, user interfaces andindicators, provided power, and/or a dispenser for dispensing solidsfrom a container associated with the base. The embodiments of the basemay be associated with one or more types of containers, such as may beformed of plastic, cardboard, or glass, and may extend upward intocontact, in part or in whole, with one or more aspects of the containerplaced into the base, such that the container is brought into contactwith aspects of the base in order that the functionality discussedherein may be provided. Of note, the container may have associated therewith one or more aspects, such as electronic labels, to provide thefunctionality herein, either discretely or in conjunction with theencompassing and electronic aspects of the base, as describedthroughout.

Further, included in the embodiments may be: cloud based storage andcommunication with one or more of the bases; one or more smartphone appsfor communication with the one or more bases and/or the cloud basedcommunication site; and an analytics dashboard, which may be app and/orweb-based, such as may be used by a consumer or seller of the solids. Asused herein, a “solids level” monitored in the disclosed apparatuses,systems and methods is indicative of the amount of solids consumed fromor remaining in a container associated with aspects of the embodiments;a “dose” is an amount of solid dispensed for a given purpose, such as tobe eaten or for medicinal purposes; and an “auto replenishment” is thatwhich may occur when the level in a container reaches a point at which areorder is required.

In accordance with the foregoing, the embodiments provide the trackingof solids upon use of the solids from a container. This tracking mayallow for reordering of the solids in a container, tracking ofindividual doses of the solids upon use, tracking of the unused portionsof a solid after dosing, and/or bulk tracking of the solids, by way ofnon-limiting example.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, tracking of the solids may be performed whilethe solids reside in a container. The container may be a container 100in which the solids 102 were purchased in the example of FIG. 1,although other containers may be employed as discussed throughout. Thecontainer may include one or more active or passive capabilities forsensing 104 of the contents of the container, and/or sensing of dosesdispensed from the container. By way of non-limiting example, thecontainer may be a cereal box and hence the contents may be cereal, andadditionally the active or passive sensing aspect may be one or moresmart labels placed upon the cereal box.

The sensing employed herein may be any one or more types of sensingsuitable for sensing the contents of the box or doses dispensed from thebox. By way of example, the sensing may be one or more photo conductivematerial sensors, which may be printed around at least a portion of thelabel of the container. Thereby, as portions of the label are uncovered,i.e., as the amount of solids within the container decreases, the photoconductive material senses the additional light that now hits the photoconductive label sensor. Thereby, the level of solids is sensed asindicated by the light received by the photo conductive label.

Of course, a variety of other sensing methodologies may be employed,such as, but not limited to, infrared, ultrasound, proximity sensing,other types of light sensing, derivative sensing, weight sensing, soundsensing, or resistance/conductance sensing, by way of non-limitingexample. Needless to say, one or more of the foregoing sensingmethodologies may vary in the uniformity of the sensing output, such asin accordance with the type of bulk solid 102 item placed within thecontainer. Therefore, adjustments may be necessary in the type ofsensing used, and/or in the processing of the sensor output, in order toproperly sense different types of bulk items.

In accordance with the foregoing, the sensor output may be active orpassive, as discussed. In either case, the output of the sensor must beprovided to a processing system 110. This may be done by any of avariety of methods. For example, a highly simplistic processor may beincluded on the container in association with the sensor. In such cases,the processor may include some wireless communication capabilities, suchas RF, infrared, blue tooth, Wi-Fi, or the like, or communication withthe processing chip may occur based on an active external interrogationof the processing chip. Alternatively, the one or more processors may beoff-container, and hence may form part of a system that activelyinterrogates the container to obtain the requisite sensing output, as isalso discussed further hereinbelow with respect to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment in which either a container 200 isplaced into a dispensing base unit 202, or the bulk solids 204 to besensed are dispensed into a container physically associated with adispensing unit. As such, the cereal dispensing unit may include acontainer, or may encompass a container placed therein, in whole or inpart.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, and as discussed above with respect to FIG.1, the sensing capabilities 210 may be provided on a container placedinto the dispensing unit. Additionally and alternatively, the sensingmay be provided in association with the container of the dispensingunit, or in association with the dispensing unit itself, such as whereinthe sides of the dispensing unit rise a substantial amount up toencompass a container placed therein and allow association of sensingcapabilities placed within the dispensing unit with a container placedtherein. Likewise, the processing discussed above with respect to FIG. 1and/or the external communications discussed above with respect to FIG.1 may be provided in the dispenser unit of FIG. 2. As is the case withthe embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, after processing the sensedinformation may be wired or wirelessly communicated to one or moreinformation processing systems, such as telephonic or desktopapplications, suitable to convey information regarding the need toreplenish or the state of dispensing of the solids associated with thecontainer. This communication may occur directly with a proximate device220, or may occur remotely, such as via the internet, cloudcommunications, the cellular network, or the like.

As referenced with respect to FIG. 1, the type of sensing used, and/orthe propriety of the use of different types of sensing, may vary withthe uniformity of the bulk solids within a container. Needless to say,the foregoing may also vary with the size and shape of a container, suchas the size of the container placed into a dispenser, and they also varyas to the most suitable location for sensing. By way of non-limitingexample, the dispenser in the embodiment of FIG. 2 may include the mostsuitable sensing location within the dose dispenser associated with thedispensing unit. Similarly, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, different typesof sensing may be used or otherwise activated by the dispenser and/orthe processor associated with the dispenser, such as based on thecharacteristics of the container or bulk solid placed within thedispensing unit.

The dispensing base may include a dispenser 240, such as a crank, spoutwith spigot, or the like, for the dispensing of the solids from thecontainer received into the base. The dispenser base and the dispensermay be, by way of non-limiting example, plastic in composition, and/ormay be substantially injection molded, such as with one or moreactuation elements, such as a handle, switch, button, or the like.

The base may include one or more indicator LEDs 250 to indicate dosageand auto replenishment; one or more network communication capablemodules, such as for communicating with a smart phone, local areanetwork, cellular network, or the like; one or more power modules toprovide power to the base modules, and which may include batteries thatmay be permanent/semipermanent (i.e., rechargeable) or replaceable; andor other optional elements, such as one or more audio alarms to supportor replace the LED indicators of correct dosage or auto replenishment.

Further included may be firmware and software to provide thefunctionality discussed throughout. For example, firmware may sense thesolids level based on the intercommunication of the sensing and theprocessing, and may use this information to indicate dosing or autoreplenishment. Likewise, dosing, and/or auto replenishment, may beinformation provided remotely from cloud-based algorithms, such as tothe firmware of the base.

As referenced, the disclosed communication capabilities may includecommunication with one or more smartphone apps 220 having userinformation associated therewith, and which may receive user feedbackregarding levels, dosing, auto replenishments, and so on. Such a smartphone app may communicate with the base via, for example, WiFi,Bluetooth, BLE, or cellular communication methodologies, and further,the firmware of the base may be suitable to batch information and dataand/or otherwise piggyback to a smart phone having resident thereon thereferenced app.

Further, a cloud-based backend 260 may store and serve received data toand from the aforementioned app, and to or from one or more web-based orapp-based dashboards. Some or all of the additional processing discussedthroughout may be performed at the cloud based backend, such as alertsor email confirmations in the circumstances of auto replenishment, suchas instead of drawing on the limited resources of the dispensing base'sfirmware or processors.

As used herein, the disclosed system may include two aspects, asdiscussed throughout. More particularly, the first aspect may be a“consumable”, such as the food container discussed above with respect toFIGS. 1 and 2, which may include a disposable good comprised of apackage which includes therein a solid or liquid for consumption byuser. The consumable may be rigid or flexible, and may be or include, byway of non-limiting example, a bottle, cartridge, bag, jar, such as witha closure, a disposable dispenser, a box, such as may be formed ofcardboard, or the like.

Also included within the system may be a durable aspect such as theaforementioned dispensing unit 240, by way of example, such as may bephysically and/or communicatively associated with a consumable. Thedurable may, as referenced above, also include communicationcapabilities to back-end 260, as discussed above. Unlike the consumable,the durable aspect may have a usable life that spans the exhaustion of aplurality of consumables, such as over a predetermined time period, suchas over the course of a month, a year, or the like.

As discussed throughout, the automatic reordering envisioned herein mayreflect a need to reorder not only a consumable, but additionally adurable aspect of the disclosed system. By way of non-limiting example,durable and consumable pairs may include: razors and razor blades; asoap dispenser and a soap or shampoo bottle; a hand soap dispenser and arefill soap bag; a cereal box and a turning crank cereal dispenser; aprinter and an ink cartridge; a disposable detergent bottle and anergonomic spicket dispenser; a spice rack and a spice bottle; acentrifuge and a vial of bodily fluid; and a coffee machine and coffee,tea, or other beverage pods.

In prior efforts, the smart label of a consumable has been read by adurable with which the consumable is paired solely in order to identifythe consumable. That is, a consumable may typically be associated withand RFID or NFC Tag, a Q.R. code, a barcode, a UPC code, or the like,which, when read by a paired durable, serves merely to identify theconsumable. In contrast, the proposed embodiments may, embed semi-smartand smart labels on or in the consumables such that a wealth ofinformation beyond identification may be sensed or otherwise conveyed toand by the paired durable, such as exclusively and only upon pairing ofthe consumable with the durable. That is, the durable may include aplurality of conventional electronics designed to sense/read thedetailed consumable information provided by the semi-smart label of theconsumable. Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments may providefunctionality beyond mere identification, and may provide significantcost advantages over RFID, NFC, or optical reading methods previouslyprovided for the consumable and durable pair.

Such functionality may be provided, such as only upon pairing of theconsumable with the durable, by any of a variety of methods that will beunderstood to the skilled artisan in light of the discussion herein. Forexample, discussed throughout are capacitive proximity sensing, lightsensing (such as using photo resistive sensors), and conductivity orresistivity sensing (wherein electrically unconnected portions of thesystem are subsequently connected to indicate a content level) toprovide content identification for consumable items.

By way of non-limiting example, FIG. 3A illustrates the use of photoresistance to provide content sensing. In the embodiment illustrated, aphoto resistive element 301 for use on a photoresistive label, such asthat illustrated in FIG. 3B, is comprised of an anode and cathodeconnective points 301 a, 302 b. A photoresistive label 302 may includeeffective photoresistive elements 301 to provide a sensing circuit, suchas may be formed of a conductive trace 304 communicatively associatedwith a photo resistive trace 306. As will be understood, conductivetrace 304 may be silver based, and the photo resistive trace may be aprinted zinc oxide based ink, by way of non-limiting example. The anodeand cathode provided by the connectively associated traces provide asensing circuit 308 which, upon variations in the level of product thatblocks the photo resistive trace 306, indicates a level of the contentsassociated with the photo resistive label 302.

Additionally, and alternatively, FIG. 4A illustrates the use of acommoditized series of individual photo resistors 402, which also may becomprised of a photo resistive film 404, such as cadmium sulfide,provided between electrical contacts, wherein a series of such photoresistors 402 may be placed along a conductive strip 406 to providesimilar functionality to the photo resistive printed label of FIG. 3B.FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate, schematically, and graphically, variationsin content level that may be sentenced based on the progressive exposureof photo resistors. Of note, the illustrated photo resistors maycomprise a strip of individual photo resistors, as discussed withrespect to FIG. 4A, or may comprise a printed trace photo resistivelabel, such as is discussed with respect to FIG. 4B.

In the illustration of FIG. 4, as the product content level 418 drops,more photo resistive sensors are exposed and the resistance of thecircuit drops. This is also graphically illustrated in correspondence tothe change in level sensing by the resistance graph shown in FIGS. 4Aand 4B. In such embodiments, level sensing occurs at discrete levelscorrespondent to the presence of each individual photo resistor alongthe strip in FIG. 4A, or improved and substantially continuousresolution may be achieved by using the photo resistors strip of FIG.4B.

More particularly, FIG. 4B illustrates, schematically and graphically,the level sentencing with the use of a photo resistive printed trace404. As shown in the illustration of FIG. 4B, the photo resistive stripmay be printed to cover the full height of the container/consumable 420.As the content level within the container 420 drops, the exposurelocations along the strip increase and the resistance accordingly dropsin a manner akin to that discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4A and3B. However, in contrast to FIG. 4A, the embodiment of FIG. 4B providescontinuous level sensing and a linear drop in resistance, as isillustrated graphically, in correspondence with the change in containerlevels. Moreover, the resistance of the overall circuit may be modifiedby changing the thickness of the ink layer and or the width of the printof the photo resistive strip 404. Thereby, the range and/or resolutionof the photo resistive sensing circuit may be modified or calibrated fordifferent contents that may reside within the container 420.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing embodiments may also work forliquids having a certain opacity, as well as for bulk solids sensingdiscussed throughout. That is, provided herein is an inexpensive methodto continuously detect change in product level by sensing a change inresistance for solids or liquids.

It will be understood that the durable discussed throughout may begeneric or proprietary. That is, a proprietary durable may be operableonly with a particular brand of consumables, and hence other brands ofthe same type of consumable will not operate with the proprietarydurable. Modification of the aspects discussed herein, such ascustomization in aspects of a printed photo resistive label, may make itdifficult to genericize a proprietary durable. Thereby, a proprietarydurable may enhance brand loyalty for certain categories of consumables.

More particularly, FIG. 5 illustrates the association of a durable 502and consumable 504, such as for a proprietary durable. As illustrated,both a sensing circuit 506 and motherboard 508 may be provided in thedurable, but may not be connected to one another. The printed traces510, such as photo resistive label traces, on the consumable 504 mayconnect the sensing circuit 506 and the motherboard 508 within thedurable 502 only when the consumable 504 is placed within the durable.Thereafter, level sensing of the product within the consumable 504 maybe performed as discussed throughout, such as based on the resistance ofthe consumable as sensed by the sensor and motherboard of the durable.As referenced above, the durable may thus be generic, or may includeproprietary modifications, such as to the sensing circuit, themotherboard, the communication protocols between the sensing circuit onthe motherboard, the type, size or makeup of the conductive traces, theprinting label printing methods, and so on.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a resistance-based product identificationthat may be provided in accordance with the embodiments. Each consumablelabel 602 may be printed with a resistive trace 604, such as a polymerresistive material. The value of the resistive trace may be unique foreach product identification, as shown.

The durable 606 may then have slots 608 connectively associated withpower 610 and the input-output of one or more analog to digitalconvertors 612 associated with a microprocessor 614, such as to identifythe different resistance values of the resistive trace 604 associatedwith a consumable placed within the slot 608. Thereby, if multipleconsumable items may be used in a single durable, the resistive sensingidentifies which consumable was used. If multiple consumables may besimultaneously placed within the durable at multiple slots at the sametime, the disclosed embodiment may identify which consumable is in whichslot. It will be appreciated that the variations in resistance of theresistive trace may be provided by any known methods, such as variationsin the shape, length, thickness, or type, such as the polymercomposition, of the trace used.

In relation to the proprietary or non-proprietary nature of the durablesas discussed above, the aforementioned dashboard may be associated withone or more sellers or brands of the referenced solids. In suchcircumstances, an analytics dashboard may be available to the brand foruser and use data indicative of certain geography use, global use, useat times of the day, use by demographic area, or the like. This andadditional information provided at the dashboard may allow for a brandto target or otherwise send special offers, discount codes, or the liketo particular users, such as high-volume users.

Dose size may be set up using the app or a web-based application, suchas in small, medium, and large, increments, and those increments may beparticularly associated, such as by a manufacturer's specifications.Alternatively, dosing may be hard coded into the firmware, such as for agiven container size typically received by the base. Needless to say,dosing sizes may serve as portion control for solids that are eaten.

Moreover, the firmware, such as absent intercommunication with the cloudor in association with cloud communication, may indicate and/orotherwise trigger an autoreplenishment event. This auto replenishmentmay be automatic or semi-automatic—a semi-automatic autoreplenishmentevent may show a confirmation dialogue or other alert to the user, suchas in the app, which may allow for the user to cancel or confirm theorder; or, the auto replenishment order may be fully automated. Anautoreplenishment event may be communicated to the referenced cloudbackend, such as subject to an additional confirmation, such as by anapp alert or an email, to the ordering consumer. Further, such an autoreplenishment event may contribute to the data that may be provided to abrand, such as on the brand dashboard. Data associated with anautoreplenishment may include date, time, location, and/or user ID ofthe app associated with the auto replenishment, percent level forreplenishment (which may be automatic as an autoreplenishment threshold,or which may be set by the user), product SKU, or the like.

Functionality for the cloud may include storage of level updates, dosageevents, and auto replenishment events, by way of example. Further, cloudfunctionality may include user activity data, interactivity, resetcapability, and the like. Decisions, such as the reaching of thresholdsfor discounts, may optionally occur in the cloud, and the branddashboard may be enabled to approve such discounts to send, such as forreceipt by the consumer app, discount codes and/or other targetedadvertising to select consumers. Select consumers may be particularconsumers meeting certain data thresholds, classes of consumers, appprofile information, or the like.

Auto replenishment events available in the dashboard may be provided inlist, mapped, or threshold formats, by way of non-limiting example.Accessing an auto replenishment event may open a particular consumerprofile, and may make available to the dashboard all data associatedwith that profile. Such data, which may be in a map form as referencedabove, may include latitude, longitude, location, distance from nearestseller of the brand, use date, use time, percent solids level, machineused with, and/or the like. Also included in the brand dashboard datamay be typical frequency of use, recent frequency of use, time sincelast use, and so on.

In accordance with the foregoing, the user app may additionally includevarious aspects. For example, the smart phone at may be enabled todiscover and pair with the firmware of the dispensing base, such as whenthe base is activated or on, as mentioned above. The smart phone app maydisplay autoreplenishment requests or confirmation, such as in a userdialogue format. Further, the smart phone app may display a currentsolids level, and the frequency of updates for the solids level. Alsoindicated may be proper dosing for that solid and the ability for theuser to request dosing.

The app may additionally include the capability to receive discounts andtargeted advertising, such as from the brand dashboard. These may be inthe form of a push notification or a user dialogue that provides an appalert to accept and/or apply the discount code, such as wherein thediscount code may be saved for the next order or applied to a currentorder. Of course, the app may include the ability to change any one ormore of the foregoing settings or any additional settings, such asautoreplenishment settings, such as wherein the level percentagethreshold may be varied for an autoreplenishment indication. Theforegoing may be available from a drop-down or similar menu, a pop-upwindow, or via any known user interaction, by way of example.

The dashboard referenced herein may additionally include particularaspects. For example, the dashboard may include autoreplenishment eventdata, particular user information, location-based information, and thelike. Further, the dashboard may integrate third-party data, such asweather data, to allow for data fusion between sensed data and publiclyavailable data sources, such as in order to optimize sales.

The dashboard may also include one or more search capabilities. That is,a dashboard user may search for particular data across one or moreusers, such as “frequent users”, “fading users” (i.e., a list of userswhose frequency of use has fallen relative to long-term usage), certaingeographic searches, usage associated with certain events (such assnowstorms), and the like. Responsive to the search, and otherwiseavailable from within the dashboard, may be a consumer data display.That is, dashboard events, such as autoreplenishment events, may includedrill down capabilities to obtain more detail on particular consumers.The drill down may include basic information, such as delivery addressor locale, and more particular information, such as dosing events orsolids levels over time.

The dashboard requirements may additionally include an ability to designmarketing campaigns and/or discount codes. For example, discount codesmay be provided based on the meeting of certain thresholds by certaindata of consumers. Thereby, the discount codes may be automaticallygenerated upon the trigger event for one or more consumers, or may be“hard entered” by a person controlling the dashboard. Moreover, theforegoing aspects may overlap, such as wherein discount codes arereadily executed, such as responsive to a single click, to all consumersthat have been returned responsive to an entered search within thedashboard.

Additional functional requirements may include those of the cloud basedbackend. The cloud based backend may store data, includingautoreplenishment events, dosing events, and solids level events, by wayof example, and may be suitable to serve that data back to the smartphone app and/or to the dashboard as needed. Further, certain of thedecision-making algorithms discussed herein throughout may also resideat the cloud based backend, such as rather than residing in a smartphone app or in association with the dashboard.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system 1200 in which the dashboard 1202 and/orsmartphone app 1204 housing the code to implement the method(s)discussed herein throughout may be included. As shown, a container 1200having associated there with sensors 1206 is inserted into a smartdispensing base 1224. The illustrated dispensing base is then suitableto communicate with a smartphone app to exchange the informationdiscussed throughout. The smartphone app may then communicate with thecloud 1208, although it should be noted that the smart dispenser mayadditionally or alternatively communicate directly with the cloud 1208,such as via a Wi-Fi network. The cloud based backend 1210 may thencommunicate with the smartphone app 1204 and with the brand dashboard1202, as discussed herein throughout.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that variousfeatures are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited herein.

1. A consumable level monitoring system for association with a solidcontent-filled consumable, comprising: a sensing module embedded in alabel associated with the consumable suitable to sense the consumablelevel; and a visual indicator suitable to receive the consumable levelfrom the sensing module, and for communicating the consumable level to auser.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the visual indicator is a colorchanging indicator.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing moduleis passive.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing module isactive.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing module is on anoutside aspect of the label.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the labelfurther comprises an electronic communication module.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the communication module comprises a processor.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the sensing module comprises a plurality ofsensors at various volume levels of the content-filled consumable. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise aplurality of photo conductive material sensors.
 10. The system of claim8, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise photoresistors.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the label is networked.
 12. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise sensors selected fromone of infrared, ultrasound, proximity, light, derivative, weight, soundand resistance sensors.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein theplurality of sensors vary with the uniformity of the contents.
 14. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a dispensing base for electricalassociation with the label.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein thesensing module is, in part, in the dispensing base, and, in part, in thelabel.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the dispensing base includesa dispenser in physical communication with the solid content and capableof dispensing the content from the consumable to modify the contentlevel.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the dispenser comprises oneof a crank, a spout, or a spigot.
 18. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising a power module for powering at least the sensing module. 19.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication to the user comprises adisplay over at least one network.
 20. The system of claim 1, whereinthe sensing module comprises firmware for converting signals associatedwith the content level.